Mallory Shelton
SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The IU Columbus softball team pulled off a pair of come-from-behind upset wins Friday to advance to the final day of the River States Conference Tournament.
The No. 6-seed Crimson Pride, who had opened with a 5-2 loss to No. 3 seed Oakland City Thursday, beat No. 5-seed Shawnee State 6-3 and No. 2-seed IU Southeast 8-6 Friday.
IUC trailed Shawnee State 3-2 after five innings before scoring four times in the sixth, capped by a two-run triple from Lily Culp. Taylor York went 2 for 3, and Erica Henry threw a complete-game seven-hitter.
Then, trailing IU Southeast 6-2 going to the top of the seventh, the Crimson Pride erupted for six runs. Mallory Shelton had the go-ahead bases-loaded triple and finished 2 for 3. Columbus North graduate Lexi Heafner, who had two RBIs for the game, and Hauser graduate Hannah Taylor, had RBI-singles in the seventh. Henry threw her second complete-game seven-hitter of the day.
IUC (19-30) will play Oakland City (28-15) in the loser’s bracket final at 10 a.m. Saturday. A win would put the Crimson Pride against No. 1-seed and winner’s bracket champ Rio Grande at 2 p.m. A win in that game would set up a winner-take-all game against Rio Grande at 5 p.m.
